Obvious Winners of the NFL Awards

01/05/2019

Unfortunately, the NFL regular season is over. That means there are only 11 games left until the offseason. It’s not all bad though. Now we can finally debate the regular season awards and get mad online when our favorite players don’t win an award. Are you ready to get triggered? I know I sure am.

MVP: QB Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

Drew Brees seemed like a lock for MVP until Patrick Mahomes told Biology and Physics to go fuck themselves and started making throws like this:

Mahomes threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns. That’s 11 more TDs than second-place Andrew Luck (39). The only other player to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 TDs in a season was Peyton Manning in 2013 when he won the MVP. Mahomes’s season is even more impressive because he did it without looking.

Offensive Player of the Year: QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

The most underrated player in NFL history wins the consolation prize. Brees was the NFL’s most accurate passer this year, completing an absolutely absurd 74.4% of his passes, breaking his own record. Brees led the league in passer rating at 115.7. No other QB can thread the needle quite like Brees.

This season continues Brees’s impressive MVP drought though. Brees has never won the award despite having five 5,000 yard seasons and has the most passing yards in NFL history. Brees can take consolation knowing Patrick Mahomes has never caught his own pass.

Defensive Player of the Year: DT Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams

Donald led the NFL with 19.5 sacks despite playing along the defensive interior. Khalil Mack had a strong season, but nobody in the NFL has the raw speed and power of Aaron Donald. Look how he blows around a blocker in the middle of Minnesota’s line.

There is not another defensive tackle that can get out of his stance that quickly, and the guard wasn’t prepared for it.

Finalists: OLB Khalil Mack, S Eddie Jackson

Offensive Rookie of the Year: QB Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns

Baker is a baaaaaaad man. Baker leads all rookie passers in percentage, yards, touchdowns, and passer rating. He has been head and shoulders above the other rookies in this class. Baker earns the nod over Barkley and teammate Chubb because he is dropping dimes like this one:

this is becoming my favorite thing to look up every week. Baker Mayfield's pass to Jarvis Landry on the sideline in the 4th quarter had a 12.9% chance of being completed, per Next Gen Stats. that's the 5th-most improbable completion of the entire season pic.twitter.com/uigrr6NuWs

Just how good was Baker? QBs only threw for 300+ yards three times against Baltimore. Baker did it twice.

Finalists: RB Saquon Barkley, RB Nick Chubb

Defensive Rookie of the Year: LB Darius Leonard, Indianapolis Colts

The second round rookie out of South Carolina State led the entire NFL in tackles this season at 163. Add in 7 sacks, 2 INTs, 10 passes defensed, and 4 forced fumbles, and you would have one of the best middle linebackers in the league. His growth into a jack of all trades is a huge reason for the Colts defensive turnaround after Week 6.

Comeback Player of the Year: QB Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

Remember when the Colts brought in Jacoby Brissett to throw a hail mary and everybody lost their minds? It seems silly now. Luck had the second most touchdowns and the fifth most yards this year. The NFL’s most wholesome quarterback has looked mobile and accurate again after recovering from last year’s shoulder injury.

Coach of the Year: Matt Nagy, Chicago Bears

There are a lot of coaches who did an outstanding job this season. Pete Carroll lost the entire legion of boom this offseason but somehow improved the Seattle defense. John Harbaugh practically invented a new offense in Baltimore halfway through the year. Greg Williams wasn’t Hue Jackson. All of these things increased their respective team’s win totals, but Matt Nagy had the most impressive season of all.

It is easy to credit Khalil Mack for Chicago’s much-improved team. Nagy has developed Eddie Jackson into the NFL’s premier safety and Mitchell Trubisky into a respectable quarterback. Nagy even revitalized running back Jordan Howard, by switching from a gap running scheme to a zone running scheme.

Nagy has also kept the locker room lose but in control. The control is key, just ask the Steelers, but allowing his players to have fun and show their personalities has led to a united locker room that respects him. Plus #ClubDub looks fucking fun.